


Collide

by Zee_McZed



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, College AU, Coping, Dramedy, Gen, Humanstuck, Illustrated, Music, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, TW: medical procedures, Would you believe I've been sitting on this half done for years?, characters to be added as they appear, i have, no?, pity, tw: injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-05-31 14:57:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6474835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zee_McZed/pseuds/Zee_McZed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jade Harley is narcoleptic. Jade Harley gets everywhere on her bike. This was bound to end badly eventually. A romantic comedy (in physical rehab) - With art by Adrienne "Paperseverywhere" Garcia!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introit

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Three years ago, I had an idea for a fic. I worked on it, hammered out some ideas, and I commissioned a really awesome artist to do a few pictures for it - just some figurative punctuation marks on the work, nothing extensive. The fic, two thirds finished, sat in my hard drive for years, along with the art. Time passed. The artist, Adrienne Garcia, went on to become an official part of What Pumpkin?, and I decided that it was time to finally get off my tush and finish Collide. 
> 
> I announced it on my Tumblr on April Fool's Day. Five days later, we got the EOA6 animation.
> 
> Which shared this fanfic's title.
> 
> So before you ask - yes, it's a coincidence.
> 
> Enjoy.

"ONE SUPER-LARGE EXTRA CREAM EXTRA VANILLA EXTRA OH MY FLIPPIN’ GAWD WHY BOTHER IT’S A SCENTED CANDLE FOR HARLEY!”

“You know you could be just a little nicer Vriska?” Jade’s brow furrowed. “Not everyone likes it black!”

* * *

“Ye~eah?” She stretched the ‘e’ out like a piece of saltwater taffy. “And?” The cup dangled from her fingertips, and Jade sighed before taking it. John was still snickering up a storm in the corner. She swore, he should just admit that the obnoxious barista was the only reason he came to this place. “So why the caffeine load, Harley? I thought midterms were over.” It took Jade a second to respond.

“Oh. Oh! They are!” She wrapped her hands around the warm cardboard. “But I have a project that has been taking up all my time back at the apartment, and I really needed a pick-me-up to get me through the rest of the day.” Jade had a vast variety of interests, and it was hard to say if she was going to major in physics or botany; the latter seemed more likely as of late, if only because ninety five percent of her dorm room was now a hydroponics bay. Vriska leaned in conspiratorially, flashing her a grin that was a little wider than could be comfortable.

“It isn’t Karkles, is it?”

“What? No! How - how would he even constitute a project?” She seemed genuinely confused.

“Wellll~ word is that you two-”

“OH no! We are not getting into that conversation again!” Vriska broke into laughter, high and cackling, as Jade hustled for the door.

“You can’t run from it forever! Nepeta knows where you live!” Vriska called out after her. Jade just shook it off. Karkat was awesome, and - yeah, she LIKED him, but… she was never too sure about anything romantic. The notion kind of made her head spin. No, she was more comfortable with her projects - breeding an entirely novel species of pumpkin was taking up almost all her time. She’d been up until two in the morning sequencing the genes of the latest batch, checking to see if everything she’d been trying to do had taken root… it didn’t look like it had, but the work was still promising. She set the coffee in the basket on her bike, and started pedaling back towards the main gate of AHU. The spring weather was cool and pleasant, and her hoodie was just warm enough that the wind whipping by her left a trace of a chill along her ears and neck. She sped up, and set the bike into a coast as she reached the downhill stretch towards the gate. This was always the best part of the ride.

She leaned back, and it felt for a second like she was a witch, screaming across the sky on her broomstick; the cool, the whistling of the wind, the utter effortlessness of the movement… even the smell of the coffee itself worked into a perfect storm. She was, at that moment, utterly… completely relaxed. And her eyes closed, and she reveled in

The

Freedom and

th

e

 

C̻͓̪̘̩̠̱͎̲̳͍̰͖̥̀̀͠R̢̢̹̥͎̣̙͎͎̼̦̥̱̜̬͚̦̫̬͟U̵̴̴̜̫͈̱͜N̴͢͡͏̲̟͍̙̺̦̞̹͖̬̕Ç͖̙͎̼̥͎̫̺̻̰͔̺͍̥H҉̣̜̯̦̤͓̭̞͔͓̣̪̲̺̖͍̦̞͇̕͘͜ 


	2. 4:13 PM CST / Consciousness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Track 2 - 3:14  
> Track 3 - 2:11
> 
> Jade Harley - Bass  
> Dave Strider - Turntables, synth  
> Aradia Megido - Vocals

J͍̙e͔̳̖̩̜̳̮͠ś͉͔͈̯̫͔ͅu̙̰͉̗̕s͈̣̬͖̪̮ͅ  
̤̤̤̖͠  
̴̻̲͍̠̜̮̻so̱̪̠͚̘̯̟ ̥̹͖̰͚̳́m̲̺͕͖ͅu̜͉̱̱̭c͍̳̺͖̹͎ḥ̥̫̙̪̱  
̷͚̦̠̯͍̼  
̫̝͇̰̙̺̕ͅc̮̲̝͉̰̘̮o̵̙m̞̱̫̙͙̼͠įn҉g̨ ̦̺̱̣̹͔ͅt̪̼o͖̰̣̹ w̼͙̯͚̜̝̻h̵͔̭̱͔̱̺er̴͔̣̠͓͎̞̼e̪̞̝̠̳̥͉s̹͚͇̕ͅ ̬̦͉̻̝the̦͍̜̫͚ͅ  
̕  
̟̖̼̲͕̖i̪̪̠͕̙ ͔̦̹̹ͅw̠̯̞a̙̬͍̜ͅn̳͉t̴ ̝́h̺e̡r̞̩ s̬̥͔̖̤̤t͢a̶͇̲  
҉̗͍̬͙͎̼ͅ  
̵̜͙s̱̻̙u͉t̰͎͝u̴͚̜̩̳̦r̷e͓͝  
̲̠̳̞͚̩  
̩̫̯n͇̺̻̕o he͠ͅa͘d͚̠͚͘ ̞̠̫̱͈̙͜i҉̬n̰͇̙͘j͓͙͓  
̼͉͕͇͈̪̀  
̝͈͉s̴͇̹h̪̙͖o̞̖̹̯̞̠c̢̙̞͕͔͖̦k̼̯̺ ̶b̤̩̖͟u͔͓̼t͎͓̼̗͔ ̬̘͝ͅw͉͓ͅe̩͍̫͙̲͞ ͡e̟͚̙̬͍̺͡x̙̙͕̝̯p̞̮e̗͈̰̰͘  
̼́  
̛w͘a̼̙͉͚̯͝ķ̬̺̪e̦ u͖p͕̱̭  
͖̦͍͍  
̷w̥̤̺͚̙a̤̝͉̥͙ͅk͘e͇̰̻̩͚ ̡u̹̬̯͔p̛̦͎̭̩͔

 

 

Wake up.

 

Jade realized the last words were not spoken. They were not part of her dreams, which were fevered and stange and muddled. That was weird. She rarely had nightmares, and almost always remembered what she was dreaming... but now, now she wasn't even sure that she had been dreaming, or that she was entirely awake. For one thing, she was not in her mostly-comfy bed in the dorm. No... no, she was in an unfamiliar, dimly lit room that smelled of antiseptic, with thin blankets. She could feel things taped to her under an equally thin top, and everything was blurry. It took her almost a minute to realize that she was without her constant companion, her glasses. At least she didn't have it as bad as Jane Crocker, she couldn't see twenty feet off without her glasses... all these things were there, and yet they seemed miles away. Her head was in a haze, one that made it hard to put anything together, and she was fighting a wrenching in her stomach. A sort of instinctive, gray, dark panic that was hard to batter back. 

"Jade?" It was John. He was stepping in from the hallway, carrying two styrofoam cups of coffee. Dave was next to him, shorter and slighter and infinitely paler - his albinism was always the first thing that people noticed when they saw him.

"Hey John." She cooed, her brow furrowing a moment as she did. Her voice did not sound as it normally did - it sounded a little wobbly, a little out of focus, as if her voice was not entirely connected to her vocal cords. She winced and shifted in place, trying to sit up - a motion that had Dave at her side, clucking over her in seconds.

"Hey hey hey. Hey. No need to get up on our account. As a matter of fact you might want to go the other way on our account. Settle in, chief. Just relax."

"Why?" Her thoughts were muddled, though panic wasn't one of the main notes playing in the dischordant symphony in her head - more a cacaphony of confusion and bemusement and wondering just why she felt so unplugged from everything. "Dave what is going on?"

"Uh..." He started to say something, and his lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. "John, you - you wanna-?"

"Uh..." 

"Lot of 'uh's going around." Jade mumbled.

"So you remember yesterday... the coffeeshop, talking to Vriska-"

"Yesterday?" She tried again to sit up, and Dave's hand met her shoulder. It hurt, and she gasped a little - he immediately pulled his hand back.

"Yeah, you kind of... fell asleep. On your bike."

"Oh!" She groaned, sinking back into the bed. "Oh, jeez. I must have wiped out pretty hard." She laughed, and the sound was airier and lighter than she would have imagined. John looked relieved; Dave less so. 

"You have no idea." The albino kid mumbled. That cut off her laughter neatly. 

"Am... I missing something? I mean I - how bad am I?" She patted her head. "Do I have a concussion?" The two looked at each other, and John piped up again.

"You have... like, a little bit of one? But it's not bad. Uh - a couple broken ribs, broken finger, lot of scrapes and a whole lot of bruises, and... u-uh.." He was having trouble spitting it out. Dave shook his head. 

"You got hit by a bus." Jade's eyes widened. 

"What?!"

"Look, I-" He rubbed his eyes under his sunglasses. "I'm serious here. You bounced off the front..." He gestured to her midsection. "Then got run over." And he gestured down towards her right leg. "It's kind of a miracle you got out in the shape you did."

"So I broke my l-"

"Don't!" 

"Ja-" It was too late. She had pulled the sheet back, and was staring at her right leg. 

At the space where her right leg should have been.

There was no reaction at first. Just a sort of vague, insidious, creeping horror at the edges of her mind. She reached out and touched the empty space on the mattress beneath her right knee. It was just... gone.

"I can still feel it." She finally whispered. 

"Yeah." Dave was still looking up at her. John was pointedly looking away, trying to keep it together. "Doc said you might have that."

"I - it does not feel... it..." She stammered. 

"Hey. Hey, look at me." He reached up and squeezed her hand. Unlike her shoulder, it didn't hurt. Not much. "It's gonna be okay. You got hit by a Greyhound... and you're still breathing. Because you are just... that awesome. Okay? You just proved that. You are officially, one hundred percent, too awesome for the reaper to take you. That's something to fucking relish here."

"Y-yeah. Yeah." She nodded a few times. Her head swam.

And she had just enough time to turn to the side before the remnants of what was in her stomach came up. 

-0-  
Eight months prior:  
-0-

Another doctor's appointment. She was okay with that. She was getting okay with a lot of things. There came a point when you had moved past the stages into something beyond acceptance. Beyond numbness, when you had progressed so far into unfeeling that the lack of feeling itched. The clock, a cheap plastic thing with the brand name for some drug that had been new a few years ago, and an irritatingly hip orange-and-purple logo, CLACKed with every passing second on the wall. The room was too cold. Everything was always too cold. Sollux's hand was better. Warmer. He'd driven her there. 

She was okay with that, too. 

They had been there nearly forty minutes. What was the wait? What was the hold up?

CLACK.

CLACK.

It wasn't that hard to deliver the message. It was only a matter of time. She knew that she was dead. That she had died a long time ago, and this was just her body forgetting that it shouldn't be moving. 

CLACK.

CLACK.

That was what cancer was. A small piece of death. And she was just... full of it. And that's why she was there, wasn't it? The chemo had stopped working. It was spreading. She'd been waiting for the day it'd happen.

CLACK.

CLACK.

And the time just kept stretching on into infinity, and they were still waiting, and the CLOCK was still CLACKING and -

"-RADIA HOLY THIT STOP!" Sollux was panting. Holding her shoulder. The clock, now nonfunctional, was clutched in her fingers. She'd taken it off the wall and smashed it into the counter. At least once. Probably many times. The clacking had stopped. 

Silence reigned. 

She was still until the door opened. The itch crept in, familiar and almost comforting, as she ignored the pleasantries the doctor was spouting. Sollux was trying to deflect things, trying to make it all better. Trying to guide her towards the examination table. She'd have none of it.

"How long do I have?"

Silence, again, moved in. The doctor cleared his throat. 

"You've determined why I called you here, then?"

"Yes." She was shaking. Why did he have to make this so hard?

"We can stop the chemotherapy immediately, but we'll want to keep the supporting treatments going for the next few months - and the diet - until your immune system is restored-"

"And after that?" There was a sharpness to her voice.

"Well... you've come out of this better than most. Re-screenings every three months to make sure it doesn't come back, I suppose. Thorough ones, not just a pap smear and by-your-leave." The silence was different this time. 

"Come... come back?" 

"Yes." He stared at her a moment with that perpetually blank expression, and then slid the scan results onto the lightbox. Or whatever it was called. Her skeleton blinked back at her. And for the first time, she didn't see any of the black splotches. Not one. And every word they said after that just bounced off the surface. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she was smiling. For the first time in she-didn't-know-how-long, she let herself cry a little. For the first time in she-had-no-idea she felt alive again. And she'd been so... so tired of being dead. 

The laughter bubbled out of her like a soda that had been shaken up - then like a diet soda that had a pack of cheap chewy mints dropped into it. She couldn't hold it back.

She was ALIVE.

-0-


End file.
